Where did the English Mantel family come from? When did the Mantel family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the Mantel family history?

The name Mantel came to England with the ancestors of the Mantel family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Mantel family lived in Buckinghamshire. Their name, however, is a reference to the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Mantell, near Gamages, Normandy.

Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Mantell, Mantle, Mantel, Mantelle, Manstell and others.

First found in Buckinghamshire where they held a family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mantel research. Another 202 words(14 lines of text) covering the year 1086 is included under the topic Early Mantel History in all our PDF Extended History products.

Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Mantel or a variant listed above:

Mantel Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Christoph Mantel arrived in Philadelphia in 1753 along with Yerick Adam Mantel

Skordas, Guest. Ed. The Early Settlers of Maryland an Index to Names or Immigrants Complied from Records of Land Patents 1633-1680 in the Hall of Records Annapolis, Maryland. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1968. Print.